[Cycloid]

Has anyone taken a bike on Ryanair?

It’s one airline I said I would never use, but they fly to the little destinations. Riding a bike to and from major airports can be a real pain.
I ride to the airport and put my bike into a lightweight bag, a proper bike box is out of the question.

Topic

[tigersnapper]

I’ve flown Ryanair Stansted –

I’ve flown Ryanair Stansted – Girona return a couple of times now.  My bike box has come back with a few dinks and cuts.  No damage to the contents though.  Looking at the state of the box now I’m not sute I’d want to trust my bike in a soft bag to the baggage handlers.  Last time out we were sat over the loading door and I watched my box thrown by the handler onto the loading conveyor – it wasn’t gentle!

[mark1a]

Agree ref proper box, and as

Agree ref proper box, and as an alternative to a trailer, could you use bus/train/taxi at either end? Appreciate it’s less “active travel” than riding to/from the airport, but ultimately, you are actually using an aeroplane for the other part of the journey. 

[lonpfrb]

dave atkinson wrote:

dave atkinson wrote:

I’ve taken bikes on ryanair, never had an issue. all the baggage handling is centralised at airports anyway, so the people throwing your bike off the ryanair planes will be the same ones throwing it off any other plane

Fair point. Use of FRAGILE label or tape may help. I had no issues taking an ally frame bike to Denmark with SAS using the oversize baggage route. That ensures that your box is not sent on the conveyor system rather on an individual trolley since oversize is designed for over weight as well. Use of an OEM cardboard box and the FRAGILE tape roll made it possible to remove all OEM tape and roll the resulting cardboard panel into a single roll that was transported and later stored with no loss of subsequent ability to reassemble using the tape…
Assumes that your LBS is happy to recycle the OEM boxe to you. Saves them the effort of disposal.

[Accessibility for all]

I wouldn’t consider putting a

I wouldn’t consider putting a bike into the cargo hold protected only by fabric.  You’re just asking for trouble.  Consider buying a proper box, taking it with you on a trailer, packing it properly, and then storing said box+trailer at the luggage department at the receiving airport.

[dave atkinson]

I’ve taken bikes on ryanair,

I’ve taken bikes on ryanair, never had an issue. all the baggage handling is centralised at airports anyway, so the people throwing your bike off the ryanair planes will be the same ones throwing it off any other plane

[Hirsute]

Lots of general advice here

Lots of general advice here

https://road.cc/buyers-guide/best-bike-boxes-bags

 

[Author]

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